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Ultimately what the video highlighted, however, was how weak even Libya's most prominent politicians are in the face of the militias that have become both the enforcers of the law and the fuel of lawlessness in the country since the 2011 ouster and death of Moammar Gadhafi.

From the start, the fledgling government did little to follow through on a program to disarm and demobilize the militias.

Now, with the army and police still in disarray, politicians are far too weak to control the militias.

Last summer, parliament and government ministries were blockaded by militias, forcing the lawmakers to pass the "political isolation" law, which barred from politics almost anyone who held a post during Gadhafi's 42-year rule.

The militia from Libya's third largest city, Misrata, for example, is a feared powerhouse in the capital, Tripoli, as is the militia from the western Zintan region – and the two are rivals, each backing one of the two main opposing blocs in parliament.

The past two years, militias have assassinated some 200 prominent figures, including top police officials, prosecutors, judges and activists, mostly in the eastern region, particularly in Benghazi and Darna, a stronghold of Islamist militias.

Hanan al-Bereik, a Darna lawyer, said residents held a three-day sit-in demanding the government get rid of militias, but authorities did not respond.